Earning the first shutout victory since 1985, the Slippery Rock University women’s lacrosse team dominated Wheeling Jesuit University to pick up a 16-0 non-conference win on Tuesday night.
The Rock scored 13 first half goals and went on to win the first shutout since the program returned as an intercollegiate sport in 2007, and the first since a 3-0 victory over Hofstra University in 1985.
With the win over the Cardinals, SRU improved to a 3-3 overall record.
Head coach Emily Hopkins said that the win should lead to big things for the rest of the season.
“We are very excited to have the shutout,” Hopkins said. “It felt great to get back on the winning track and I am hoping the strong performance on Tuesday night can help propel us for the rest of the season.”
Slippery Rock posted an impressive 22-8 advantage in total shots, a 21-5 advantage in shots on goal, and a 12-6 advantage in draw controls.
In Tuesday’s game, 12 different Slippery Rock players recorded points, including 11 players with a minimum of one goal apiece.
Senior attack Amy Halls led the way for the Rock with four goals. Sophomore midfielder Lauren Laubach scored a game-high five points on two goals and three assists.
Also on Tuesday night, sophomore Allison Richards contributed two goals, while freshman Shannon Lee and junior Holly Webb added one goal and one assist each to the multi-point scorers.
Seniors Katie Roof, Emma VanDenburg, and Samantha Eddy, sophomores Morgan Pettit and Brittany Jaillet, and freshman Paige Costantino each added one goal apiece. Freshman Lydia Heishman also dished out an assist to round out the point scorers for the Rock.
Junior goalie Natalie Crenshaw recorded four saves during the first half to earn the win for the Green and White. Freshman Elizabeth Byrne had one save in her 20 minutes of action and sophomore Ariel Gilbert did not face a shot in the final ten minutes of the game that she played.
Webb got the Rock off to a strong start, scoring the first goal of the game 47 seconds into the first half. After ten minutes of play, SRU held a 6-0 lead over the Cardinals.
With eight minutes left to play in the first quarter, the game was pushed into a running clock situation, before the Green and White took a strong 13-0 lead at the half.
Coach Hopkins said that the team worked well together on Tuesday.
“Everything seemed to be working for us on Tuesday,” Hopkins said. “It was just one of those games where we were the stronger team and we still showed up and played well. It was a total team effort from everyone who was available to play and contribute.”
Halls agreed with Hopkins, and said that the team really meshed together.
“Offense was moving the ball very well while defense was shutting down the attack,” Halls said. “Overall, the team really seemed to come together for the first time this season and pick up a crucial win for us.”
SRU will host conference-rival Millersville University today at 3 p.m. They will also host Shippensburg University tomorrow afternoon to round off the weekend of back to back conference games.
Halls said that the big win on Tuesday will definitely help their confidence going into this weekend.
“It was great coming off of an 0-3 week to finally get a win,” Halls said. “The team really needed it in order to get prepared for our big PSAC weekend games.”
